(035) The Gospel of John VII: To the Glory of God
The Gospel of John VII:
To the Glory of God
John 3:23-36
June 22, 2008
Prep:
· Listen to Driscoll on John the Baptist
· Reread Lewis and Piper
· Last week’s sermon and mission statement notes.
· PDL: Worship
Objectives:
· Promote “glorify God” as core mission of the TGCC.
Prayer
· James (Going to LA)
· Aaron and Noah
· Teach us through John the Baptist’s example.
· As I frequently pray for this church, help us bring glory to your name.
Whose party is it?
Q How would you feel if you put on a huge party that hundreds of people came to, but no one even said “thank you”?
You spent countless hours preparing, making everything perfect, if it weren’t for you it would have been a disaster. But as it was it was a success. But everyone ignored you, and paid attention to your best friend instead?
· But it is her wedding, after all.
· It was a privilege to be able to serve that way.
We recognize that weddings are all about the bride and groom, and no one in their right mind would try to steal their day.
Ä That makes weddings the exception to the rule – most of the time we want as much recognition as we can get and feel ill-used if we don’t get it. (Me and early sermons.)
I don’t know about you, but I love recognition. Something that comes with success at a young age is that you really enjoy the attention, and get really peeved when ignored.
· Paul told Timothy, “Let no one look down upon you...” which I took to heart, even if I needed a step stool.
Ä Today’s passage (John 3:22-36) relates how John the Baptist handled losing the spotlight. Rather than hugging it, he willing pushed it away.
We will see what it means to seek God glory, not our own, and not our church’s. In this process, we will also ask a question that has long bothered me:
Q Why does God demand our worship?
John the Baptist, superstar
John 3:22-36 22 ¶ After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized. 24 (This was before John was put in prison.)
To set the stage: John was at the top of his game, lots of people coming to be baptized.
· John had “all of Judea” and Jesus was up to five.
25 ¶ An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing.
This was a pretty frequent topic of discussion: We discuss politics and they discussed ceremonial washing. This is kind of ironic, as baptism was viewed as something of cleansing ritual, but even it was a ritual.
· It was in Jesus that they would be truly be cleansed.
This is the inciting incident: This guy probably brought up Jesus to make a point, and hence informed John’s disciples about what Jesus was doing.
26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan – the one you testified about – well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
This is kind of funny: “You know that guy you said was the entire point of your ministry? Well everyone is following him instead of you.”
· At which point John must have just shook his head.
Their sense of competition demonstrates how much they missed the point. They were not in completion with Jesus; they were allies.
In response, John gives a very powerful speech that effectively hands the baton over to Jesus. I’ll comment briefly, but come back to it after we go through the passage.
27 To this John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.
Everything I have is God’s anyways.
28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.’
You already knew this was coming.
29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.
To seek my glory over Jesus’ would be like the best man grabbing the spotlight from the couple.
30 He must become greater; I must become less.
Because John is so fully convinced of his mission, and totally dedicated to seeing Jesus magnified and glorified, his loss of status was not a bad thing, it was a good thing.
31 ¶ “The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all.
John was a faithful minister, but innately inferior to Jesus.
· Like last week, transforming truth can only come from heaven.
32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful.
Jesus it speaking the truth of heaven, yet most ignore him. However, whoever accepts Jesus’ teaching demonstrates not only that he trusts Jesus, but also that he trusts God.
34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.
Unlike even the great prophets of old, Jesus had perfectly, completely, and at all times uttered the words of God, therefore to believe Jesus is to believe God.
35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”
“Rejects” better translated as “disobeys,” which means that to “believe” and to “obey” are synonymous.
The theme of believing or disobeying was also seen last week, but it bears repeating that that there is no sitting the fence. You will have to decide if you believe or reject Jesus.
· God may have mercy on people who are genuinely seeking, but at some point you will have to commit.
· No decision is a decision to reject.
follow jesus, not john
Ä As I said, the most powerful part is John’s speech.
The Apostle John’s main point seems switch in allegiance from John to Jesus. theory one of the reasons he wrote this gospel was to persuade John the Baptist followers to follow Jesus.
· only account of John handing his ministry over to Jesus.
Ä 2,000 years later, two applications to us: 1) Competition between churches and ministries, and 2) competition with God.
The feuding bridal party
The competition John’s followers showed (“Jesus is stealing all of our sheep!”) is quite common among churches. They didn’t realize they were all on the same team, and we forget it too.
· If they are preaching the Gospel, we are on the same team.
· There are a 100 right ways to do church, and we are doing one.
This doesn’t mean that we may not disagree, sometimes strongly, but the attitude we foster within the church and without should be respect. If we have to dissent, add to it some affirmation.
· I am guilty: Baptist joke, and televangelist (should be an example of reluctantly disagreeing, communicating respect).
There is a huge temptation to use the Gospel to make ourselves look better, or feel better about ourselves, rather than glorify God. We lose focus and make this about us, rather than God.
The wedding example is a powerful reminder of the situation: This really is not about us. To further tease out the analogy:
· When Christian, churches, or ministries compete, it’s like the Bridal party on stage fighting for stage position.
It’s not that they are trying to supplant the couple, but by their shenanigans, they bring all attention to themselves. God gives us our position, we should be happy with that.
\ We must view other churches as allies, and not denounce other brothers unless absolutely necessary.
Ä John’s followers thought this was competition with another ministry. John knew that it was actually competition with God.
we strive to glorify God
John saw that his entire ministry, indeed his entire life had been like the then best man at a wedding. His entire purpose was to bring glory to Jesus, which in turn brought glory to God.
· John’s highest purpose, like ours is to glorify God.
· His speech both tells us why we should glorify God and how.
I bring this up because (as many of you know) we are in the process of clarifying our mission statement, and part of the new statement says that we strive “to glorify God.”
Our highest goal and purpose in life, both as a church and as individuals is to glorify and honor God. That is my constant prayer for this church and for myself.
Q What does that even mean?
To glorify God means that in everything we do, think, feel, or say, we are becoming more captivated by God’s grandeur, love, holiness, and the entirety of his greatness, that we are acting accordingly, and that we are causing others to do the same.
· Glorifying God does not mean that we add to his glory, it means that we more fully see it and help others see it.
· Everything we do is an opportunity to glorify or dishonor God.
We glorify God by living in such a way as to honor him and demonstrate his goodness to the world. We glorify God by privately and publicly exalting him through song, prayer, and artistic expression.
Notice the internal and external components: We are drawn to God and drawing others to God. Throughout the Bible we are commanded to do both.
John’s perspective
In this passage, John’s perspective on his role and status relative to that of Jesus helps clarify why and how we should glorify him:
27 To this John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.
God is our creator; everything I have is God’s anyways. We have nothing to be proud of, but a lot to be ashamed of. Anything we think we can take glory in was given to us.
29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.
It is my purpose in life. For me to do anything other than glorify God is just wrong.
· EG: Michael Scott at the wedding.
30 He must become greater; I must become less.
“Less of me, more of you” is the Christian philosophy. This stand in stark contrast to the philosophy of the world. We seek for God to get more attention, and us less.
But this is nothing like the Eastern philosophy that teaches that we will be absorbed into the universe.
· The irony is that when we glorify God and seek him to increase, we don’t become less, we become more ourselves.
Is God narcissistic?
I must focus now on something that is a major obstacle to me, but I suppose not for all of you. Perhaps this question has never bothered you, but it has me:
Q “Why does God demand worship?”
· Why do we have to be humble, but God gets to grab glory?
Has that ever bothered you? It bothers me, so I have spent a lot of time over the years contemplating it. Here are some things I have found:
1. We have to start with him, not ourselves.
In contrast to an anthrocentric perspective that places humans at the center of the universe, we recognize that he is the creator of everything and everything is about him.
· One antidote is a look into the night sky.
· Yet he made all this.
Yet even as we seek to glorify him, we find that he is kind and loving, that he just and good.
2. He actually and fully deserves it.
It is not even so much that he demands it, but that the better we know him the less we can help ourselves. And to fully admire, we have to share.
· Have you ever been driving, with everyone else asleep and saw something so beautiful that it almost hurt not to share it?
We don’t worship God because demands it but because he deserves it and we can do no other.
· In fact, the Bible seldom has God asking for praise, but frequently has the saints calling the saints to worship.
3. If we don’t worship him, we will worship lesser things.
We will worship something, even if it is ourselves. And we become what we worship.
· God does not call us to glorify him because he needs it, but because we do.
4. When we worship God, we gain him and become most fully ourselves.
The more we glorify God, the more we become like him, and the more we have him, and that is the greatest gift he can give us.
In fact, to deny us the opportunity to worship him, God would be denying us the joy of knowing him. In worshiping him, are experiencing him.
“Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully enjoy him forever.”
closing/Application:
Does this sermon have application? Not if application means “Go home and do this different.” But my hope for each of us is that we realize that it is both our duty and delight to glorify God.
Like John, we should say, “He must increase, I must decrease,” and really mean it.